Nintendo is Selling Empty Splatoon 2 Boxes

Nintendo is reportedly selling empty Splatoon 2 boxes in Japan. The company has spent much of the week hyping the upcoming Nintendo Switch game, having debuted the Splatoon 2 single player trailer in a Nintendo Direct livestream just last night.

The box retails for 540 yen (equivalent to $5 USD) and is meant to be part of the Nintendo Switch Splatoon 2 bundle but it doesn’t contain a single thing; it really is just an empty cardboard box. According to one post on Twitter, Nintendo has begun selling the unusual collector’s item as the “hype is so off the charts” in the country that fans are eager to purchase a bit of sturdy paper with Splatoon 2 art on the side of it, despite the game not launching for the Nintendo Switch until late July.

#Splatoon2 hype is so off the charts in Japan you can buy the box for the Switch bundle.

The decision to sell a cardboard box may seem utterly bizarre – even if excitement for the game is at peak levels right now – but it speaks to how much faith Nintendo has in the game. In addition to the Nintendo Switch Splatoon 2 bundle that will eventually come packaged in that $5 box, Nintendo has also announced a new set of Joy-Con controllers and accessories that use the game’s pink and green color scheme.

Moreover, Splatoon 2 is set to feature quite heavily during Nintendo’s E3 2017 plans. While new gameplay footage is likely, Nintendo also plans to host a Splatoon 2 eSports tournament, challenging professional gamers to fling ink all over the place in a battle for the title. The game also took a star spot in the initial Nintendo Switch announcement trailer, so clearly the platform holder has high hopes for the game.

However, some will question whether Splatoon 2 will totally live up to the expectations that Nintendo (and Nintendo fans) have set for it. Will the game prove to be a real system seller around the globe and not just in Japan? Can Splatoon 2 outdo the sales of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which sold over one million copies in just a matter of days? Nintendo is hoping that it can sustain the excitement for the game, or else it’s going to be left with a lot of empty Splatoon 2 bundle boxes on its hands.